While I think the shot of the frost on the tree was pretty, at least to me it doesn't seem like a picture to inspire any undue level of pride on my part. From a technical viewpoint, it was a mostly still subject, with lots of light. I didn't need to worry much of depth of field, etc. Nearly the only technical challenge was getting the exposure just right -- getting the frost bright enough to have that almost blindingly white look, while maintaining some detail, so it wouldn't just be a white blob.
Other than that, however, it's borderline snapshot. Just for example, a disposable camera with no adjustments would probably have done almost as well, if it was filled with good enough film to do the subject justice.
From an artistic viewpoint, it's a little the same way -- yes, it's pretty, but I think just about anybody else in roughly the same place at around the same time would probably have been able to find equally good (if not better) subjects to shoot. Simply put, under the circumstances I think it would have been hard to miss.
I, at least, am more impressed with Yildiz's shot (just to give one obvious example). From a technical viewpoint, it's clear that the conditions were just about as adverse as mine were favorable -- dull enough that it was probably hard to even get decent (not to mention excellent) technical quality.
At least as importantly, it seems like the situation was probably at least as difficult artistically: finding and visualizing a really good shot that shows the atmosphere and mood so well under that kind of light strikes me as a truly impressive accomplishment.
In a way, I should admit that I often think of living in Colorado as borderline "cheating" for a photographer. With surroundings like mine, you'd almost have to work at it to keep your pictures from being at least pretty decent; it doesn't take a whole lot to get some that are pretty good.
To keep this from being all talk, let me provide a bit of contrast (no pun intended):
While I was taking this picture, two ladies out for their morning walk stopped and talked for a moment. Rather than admiring the view, however, they asked if I was taking pictures to "complain about that polluted mess". It was one of the real triumphs of my young life to get what I still think is a pretty darned good picture where/when it was fairly apparent that essentially nobody else had any appreciation for what was there.
I guess I've been completely off-topic for long enough, so I'll stop for now. In case anybody's wondering, I recall the weather being just as nice as you'd expect from the picture that day -- but that was close to 25 years ago, so I can hardly claim it has anything to do with the weather today. It was also in Aberdeen, South Dakota, which is quite a ways from my current vicinity.
